Fall-board for upright pianos.



C. MEHLIN. FALL BOARD FOR UPRIGHT PIANOS. APPLICATION FILED DEG.10, 1912.

Patented Nov. 4, 1913.

INVENTOR WITNESSES "5M ATTORNEYS CHARLES MEI-ILIN, OF FORT LEE, NEW JERSEY. I

FALL-BOARD FOR UPRIGHT PIANOS.

specification of Letters Patent.

I Application filed December 10, 1912. Serial No. 735,979.

Patented Nov. 4,1913.-

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES Marius, a citizen of th United States, residing in Fort Lee, .in the county of Bergen, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fall" ticularly designed for use in connection with upright pianos.

It has for an object to provide a fall-' board which, when in closed position, will present a broad plane-surface where hitherto the exteriorfaces of the front and rear falls have formed a coverhaving surfaces in two planes.

A further object is to provide a fall-board which may be more readily secured to or removed from the arms of the piano which support it, than is possible in present 0011- structions.

A further object is form the front and,

rear folds so they may be connected by invisible hinges, thus improving further the general appearance of the entire cover, and may be moved to open and closed position more easily'th'an heretofore. I

Still another object is to remove the objections hitherto raised to the two-fold. type of fall-board by 'reason of the open joint between the front and rear portions, by "forming their contiguous edges-in a manner to'..insurea tight connection when the I cover is closed.

The invention will be more particularly described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawing in which- Figure 1 is a view in perspective of an upright piano providedwith a fall-board constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a sectional view on an enlarged scaleof a fall-board constructed in accordance with the present invention, the pivotal supports therefor being shown in end elevation. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view in detail showing a hinge connection between the front and rear folds of the improved falLb ard, the latter being in closed position. Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the two folds in angular relationship. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan view showing in detail the means for supporting reinovably the fall-board on the arm of the piano.

Fig. 6 is a view in front elevation of the same.

As this description proceeds, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that fallboards constructed in accordance with this' invention are applicable largely, if'notentirely to upright pianos and asillustrated in Fig. 1 an improved board applied to that type of piano is herein shown. j

The fall-board comprises a front fall or lid a of any approved shape and preferably provided with a depending portion adjacent its forward edge whereby the front edges of the piano keys are completely incased. Adjacent the rear edge ofthe front fold a is formed a rabbeted portion a which receives the forward edge of the rear fall or lid 5. Projecting downwardly from the base of the rabbeted ortion a of-the front fall a, is a transverse ange a the lowermost portion of =which is disposed in juxtaposi tion.. to the keys of thepiano and may be provided with a strip of felt or other suitable material, to contact with and limit the lifting movement of the keys'when the fallboard is in open positionfi Tin! rear fall Z), as before stated, has its forward edge restingin the'rabbeted portion a of the front fall a and is'preferably of a thickness equal to the'height of said rabbcted portion so that its upper surface lies in the same plane with the upper su face of the front fold a and forms therewith a fall-board which, in closed position, has abroa d flat top. The rearfall b is preferably. hinged to. the front fold a by means of invisible hinges indicated at c.

As illustrated more particularly in Figs. 3 and d these hinges may be mounted on suitable plates 0' set in corresponding opposed recesses in the contiguous edges of the front and rear folds (b and b. Adjacent the rear edge of the rear fall I) is formed a depending rail section 1) preferably faced which engagessupporting and guide blocks (Z secured to the arms of the piano, all of which structure may be tothat hitherto employed.

Set in one end face of the key slip in is a suitable bracket 6 having a forked portion 6 to receive a stud f mounted on the inner face of the adjacent arm. In the branches of the forked portion e of the bracket e are interiorly threaded recesses adapted to receive a correspondingly generally similar with a strip 6 of any suitable soft material, I

threaded stud g for purpose which will presently appear. The opposite end face of the key slip a may be provided with a recess adapted to receive-a corresponding stud mounted on the inner face of the adjacent arm. This construction is commonly branches of the bracket (2 will receive the stud 7 carried by the opposite and board the piano. When the stud f is in position the threaded stud 9' may be screwed home through the branches of the bracket 0 to hold the forked bracket on the stud.

As shown particularly in Fig. 2 the bracket 6 has its forked end 0 so disposed with respect to the key rail 0- and the rear fall 6 so that the head of the threaded stud y," is readily accessible When the rear fall 7; is folded forward on the front fall a. in mounting and removing the fall-board it \viil be necessary to place the two falls in this position and to have theusual top frame of the piano removed in order that. after the stud f is secured in place in the forked bracket 6. the rear fold 7) may be moved rearivardly on its hinges to its normal position. .L threaded stud f may be disposed in the end face of the key rail m and in alineinent with the stud f so that the latter bears thereon and by suitable adjustment of the threaded stud longitudinal movement of.

the cover is prevented.

By resting the forward edge of -the rear fall 5 in the rabhetcd portion a, of the front fall a and by securing the two falls together with the general type of invisible hinge herein described. it will be evident that when the front fall is displaced from its closed position, the initial movement of the forward portion of the rear fold Will be upward. By inclining rearvvardly the upper edge of the supporting blocks d from the forward edge thereof and by throwing the center of gravity of the rear fall 6 upwardly changes a 1,0??? can as just pointed out. the continued movement of the rear fold to its .earmost position may be occasioned by the application of less pressure than must be employed in constructions now generally used. Likewise, the stress on the various parts iscorrespondingly reduced and a more desirable operation of all of the parts from closed to open position. is obtained. It will further appear that by disposing the forward edge of the rear fold b in the rabbcted portion a, and by using the invisible hinges c of the general type herein illustrated, thus permitting a very close junction over a relatively great area of the contiguous edges of the falls, a much closer joint is effected between the two than has hi -crto been obtained in fall-boards of this type and no hinge is visible when open or closed.

h lodifications of the fall-board herein illustrated and of the auxiliary devices used in the mounting thereof will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art. but all such to be considered within the scope of this invention, provided they fall Within the terms of the claims hereto ap pended.

i-Vhat I claim is 1. A fall-board for pianos comprising a front fall, a rear fall hinged thereto, a forked bracket mounted in the end face of said front fall and opening rearwardly, a

supporting stud carried by the piano and adapted to engage said bracket and removable means to close said fork in rear of the stud.

2. A fall-boardfor pianos comprising a frontfall, a rear fall hinged thereto, a bracket set in the end face of the front fall and having a forked portion opening rear- Wardly, a sup orting stud mounted on the piano and adapted to be embraced by the forked portion of the bracket and a threaded stud to close the forked bracket in thereur of the stud and accessible from above.

This specification signed and witnessed this 4th day of December A. ll, 1912.

CHARLES MEHLIN.

Signed in the presence of- KATHERINE NORTON, W'on'rmrro'roN GAMPnnLL.

enie-s k this patent may he obtained five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

ashington, ID. (3.

till 

